1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cigarette mainstream smoke component adsorbent and a cigarette filter comprising the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flavorant is added to leaf tobacco shreds used in a cigarette in order to adjust the flavor and the taste. The flavorant includes a primary flavorant as a casing source and a secondary flavorant as a top flavor. The components of the secondary flavorant exhibit relatively high volatility and are likely to be decomposed by heat. Accordingly, when the cigarette containing the secondary flavorant is smoked, the smoker would taste the flavor to a lesser extent because of the volatilization of the secondary flavorant during the storage thereof. In addition, with respect to the cigarette provided with a charcoal (activated carbon) filter which adsorbs cigarette mainstream smoke components, the secondary flavorant migrates to and is adsorbed on the charcoal, resulting in a partial deterioration of the flavor and taste. The charcoal having the secondary flavorant adsorbed thereon suffers a decreased capability of removing tobacco mainstream smoke components.
The specification of Japanese Patent No. 3744953 discloses a tobacco filter incorporating capsules containing a deodorant, such as activated carbon. These capsules are destroyed by external force when stubbing out the cigarette to thereby release the deodorant within the filter, thus eliminating the smoke odor. However, because in this tobacco filter the deodorant is encapsulated in the capsules and the capsules are destroyed by external force when stubbing out the cigarette after smoking to thereby release the deodorant within the filter, the deodorant cannot exert its function during smoking the cigarette.